How to Protest Increased Property Taxes

If you feel the county's assessed value of your home is higher than the property is currently worth, you have the right to protest. Significant changes could occur in the housing market since your last assessment. In California, you dispute your taxes by appealing the assessed value. The only way to successfully win your appeal is by proving the value is lower with supporting evidence. You cannot negotiate lower taxes due to a financial hardship or burden.

1

Check your assessment to ensure the county has the correct information for your property. By correcting errors in the lot size, square footage and other information, your assessment may automatically drop.

2

Contact the county tax assessor for specific details about the appeals process. Although the process is similar in most California counties, some require you to complete a short informal assessment review of the property. You must provide supporting evidence to show your assessed value is inaccurate. In some cases, the informal review is enough to result in a tax adjustment.

3

Obtain an Application for Changed Assessment. You can obtain the paperwork from your county assessor's office, in person or online.

4

Gather evidence to prove the assessed value of your home should be lower. You can search comparable sales in your neighborhood or community. Public records of recent sales are available at the county recorder's office. A real estate agent can also assist you with finding the sale prices of similar homes recently sold in the area.

5

Submit any inspector or contractor reports and photos if your home needs major repairs, which can result in a lower value than your current assessed one. Document material changes including easements, heavy traffic and nearby railroads and freeways.

6

Complete the application. You will need to provide your name, mailing address and the current tax assessed value as it appears on your bill or notice. The application requests your opinion of value. This is where you indicate what you determined to be the accurate assessed value of your property.

7

File your application at the assessor's office before the deadline. At the time of publication, the window for filing applications is only six weeks, with no grace period offered.

8

Prepare for the hearing. At the hearing, you have the opportunity to present your evidence to the appeal's board. Provide documents and photos supporting the value you stated on the application. You can even hire an appraiser to provide a professional report as supporting evidence.

9

Attend your hearing on the scheduled date. After reviewing the evidence, the appeals board is required to determine the value of your property. The board can keep the property's value the same, decrease or increase.